SHELF LIFE : Shot in the Dark?

Can you shoot your way onto the national bestseller lists?

Readers of the New York Times book list may have been surprised two weeks ago to learn that the 11th best-selling nonfiction title in America was “Guns, Crime, and Freedom” by Wayne LaPierre, who heads the National Rifle Assn.

Amid the memoirs of Barbara Bush, Dolly Parton and Tim Allen, not to mention the No. 1 book by Pope John Paul II, LaPierre’s vigorous critique of gun control might have seemed out of place. But the story of how it made the list says much about the changing world of book publishing and promotion.

“What I want people to understand is, the NRA did not buy one single copy,” says Jody Thomas, the group’s special projects manager. “Those (rankings) are true store purchases. We have run very little advertising.”

Who needs to, when you can rally a national organization of 2,524,000 members with phone trees, postcards, fax messages and e-mail? Unlike most authors, LaPierre wasn’t dependent on media coverage to lure book buyers his way. He didn’t even need a publisher to organize an 80-city book signing tour.

“They (the NRA) paid for his tour,” says Megan Butler, marketing director for Regnery Publishing Inc., which has printed 150,000 copies so far.

“They’re very good at mobilizing people, and they basically ran the whole show, which is unusual in publishing. Although we were delighted to make the New York Times list, we weren’t really surprised.”

Like other newspapers, the New York Times measures national sales through sales at selected bookstores, and it keeps their identity secret. Most publishers would kill for that inside information, so they could boost sales in target areas and get their books on the prestigious list.

LaPierre faced the same handicap, but he wasn’t shooting in the dark.

He toured far more cities than most authors, hitting super-stores, mall outlets and independents. As weekly sales grew from 114 in July to 5,678 by the end of September--the figures are provided by the NRA--it seemed inevitable his book would hit the bull’s-eye on at least one bestseller list.

Stranger things have happened in the book biz, where titles make the lists for many reasons, ranging from sheer celebrity (a la Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern) to tie-ins with breaking news (Faye Resnick’s book on Nicole Simpson).

LaPierre’s game plan was simple: After “Guns, Crime, and Freedom” appeared in July, word went out to NRA members that LaPierre was coming to a store near them and that he’d be happy to sign copies. He began drawing huge crowds.

At the Crown Superstore in Brea, hundreds waited in line and 285 copies were sold. At Tattered Cover in Denver, 275 copies sold, and the crowd was larger than at most book signings, according to buyer Margaret Maupin.

LaPierre’s book debuted at No. 13 on Nov. 20 and reached the 11th spot two weeks later. Since then, it has dropped off the New York Times list.

“Normally you’re happy if you sell 30 copies at a book signing, but this was unusual,” says Daniele Haber, owner of Booked Solid in Milwaukee, where almost 300 copies were sold. “Maybe it’ll be the start of something new.”